“Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now?
I will lay down my life for Your sake. Jesus answered him, ‘Will you lay down your
life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till
you have denied Me three times.’" —John 13:37-38
Peter thought that he could do a spiritual thing through the
strength of his own will. You know how
that worked for him. It’s easy to sit in
judgement over Peter. Shaking our
knowing heads. No way Peter! Who did you
think you were? And yet, we are guilty
of the same thing. Trying to be
Christians … doing the right thing … in the power of our flesh. Letting our emotions be a poor substitute for
the Spirit of God. Thinking that our own
plans are equal with the plans and will of God.
Essentially denying the sovereignty of God .. trying to be our own
god. What! No way you say. Yes way!
Everything we do .. everything we say .. what we think .. what we want
.. should be .. must be … in the context of Whose we are and who God is. Look … our life after our rebirth is a
struggle. Our old nature wants to rule
and guide, but our new nature has another ruler and another guide. In all fairness to Peter, he had not received
the Holy Spirit so he lacked the power to be and do in a way that would
overcome.
Read this account of Peter being confronted after he
received the Spirit of God.
“The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of
the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were
Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. They had
Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power
or what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to
them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today
for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he
was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the
dead, that this man stands before you healed.
Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the
cornerstone.’” – Acts 4:5-11
Is that the same guy that denied Jesus before people around
a fire? Yes and no. It was Peter, but the new Peter not the old
one. Now Peter could have stood before
those religious leaders, even with the Spirit in him and responded with his
flesh. If he had, he would have failed
just like before. The first time, Peter
did not glorify God, he protected himself.
He faced the reality of following Jesus in a world that hated Jesus and
His followers and withered under fire. The second time, he boldly glorified God
at the peril of prison or worse. The
difference was who he was trusting in.
“Now this I know: The Lord gives victory to his anointed. He
answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right
hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of
the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and
stand firm.” – Psalm 20:6-8
Standing firm, being bold, in the face of adversity can be
you as you face life each day. Every day
you will be tested and tempted to trust in yourself and not God. To respond to a situation with emotion and
not devotion. In your own strength and
not in the power of the Spirit. If you are wondering where the victory in Jesus
is in daily living .. that may be the root of your problem. You are trying to do what only God can do
through you. Examine your heart. Draw close to God through the Word and
prayer. Pick up your cross daily and
follow Jesus.
“‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the
Lord of hosts.” – Zechariah 4:6
No comments:
Post a Comment